Combined automatic and manually operable clutch actuating mechanism



Aug. 27, 1935. A.-PARKER-SMITH 2,012,636

COMBINED AUTOMATIC AND MANUALLY OPERABLE CLUTCH ACTUATING MECHANISM Filed Jan. 21, 1952 I 9 n /Z.90 1 I 5 I /7 Q /5/ I30 v L96 729 I! 1/80 K7 A56 59 /74 a wl lll um IIVII IIIIIIIIIZI Patented Aug. 27, 1935 UNITED STATES ALLY . MANU OPERABLE CLUTCH ACTUATING MECHA- NISM Augustus Parker-Smith, New York, N. Y., as-

signor to Bendix Products Corporation, South Bend, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Application January 21, 1932, Serial No. 587,847

17 Claims. -(ci.192-.o1)

certain minor modifications .thereof, is illus- This invention primarily comprises an improvement upon the construction shown in the application of J. H. K. McCollum and H. J DeN. McCollum, Serial No. 587,879 filed January 2 1, 1932. Insaid eo-pending application an apparatus is disclosed in which apneumatically operated power developing element, manually controlled, is employed for engaging and disengaging the clutch ofa motor can-which power element can be nicely graduated in its operation so as to hold the clutch at any intermediate point of engagement or disengagement. In one form of the invention therein disclosed the manually operated element is a separate pedal operated by the driver's left foot. In another form therein disclosed the pressure controlling valve for the pneumatically operated element (in that case the vacuum cylinder) is connected to the pedal which also, during certain stages of its movement, controls the motor throttle so that the power controlling mechanism is then automatically timed with reference to the throttle movements. According to my present invention these two types of apparatus are combined in one, so that the pneumatically operated power developiing element (the vacuum cylinder and piston therein) can either be independently operated by the operators left foot pressing on the special pedal provided for that purpose, or by the operators right foot which rests on the accelerator operating pedal, and the movement of which, at a later or earlier stage of its movements, also controls the motor throttle. However, according to the present invention, the mechanism operated by the left foot predominates in control over the power developing element so that at any time while said element is being automatically operated in conjunction with the accelerator, the driver can, if he desires, override such automatic operation and-independently modify the action of said power developing element. The invention, also comprises a manually operable disconnecting mechanism between the two sets of apparatus above described, so that the two can be completely disconnected when desired, thus leaving the throttle to be independently controlled by the right foot, through the agency of the pedal which operates the accelerator, while the power developing element can be independently controlled by the left foot to enage or disengage the clutch at any time and to any extent which existing conditions may require.

The best form of apparatus embodying my invention at present known to me, together with trated in the accompanyingsheet of drawings in which 1 Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view showing the preferred form. of the apparatus, parts being broken away and others shown in section.

Fig. 2 is a detail showing on a larger scale two floating levers which are employed and their connections, in partly dissociated conditions, parts being broken away or shown in section, on line 2--2 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 is a detail on an enlarged scale of the preferred form of disengaging apparatus, technically called a lookout or a cutout"- device,

by means of which the two sets of controlling apparatus can be entirely dissociated and the manually controlled device left free to be operated independently and in sole control of the power developing element.

Fig. 4 is a detail illustrating a modified form of connection and for the manually operated power controlling connection.

Fig. 5 is a detail longitudinal section of the valve it! looking fromthe side opposite that shown in Fig. 1..

Thromghout the drawing like reference characters indicate like parts. i

Fig. 1 illustrates generally the type of pneumatic, clutch-operating apparatus now. coming into quite general use, the basic features of which constitute no part of my invention, and also illustrates one formof special control apparatus therefor, of the type described in the above noted McCollum application. The portions ofthe apparatus above referredto may be described as.

follows:

l is the usual clutch operating shaft on which a clutch lever 2 is rigidly mounted, carrying the clutch pedal 3 which projects through an opening in the footboard 4. A pivot pin 5 connects said clutch lever to the piston rod 6 which is fast at its other end to the piston 1 reciprocating in the cylinder 8, which latter is'pivoted at to to the chassis or other support, said pivotal connection being provided to accommodate the angularity of the swinging clutch lever 2. The conduit 9 connects the closed end of the cylinder 8 with the valve generally indicated by the reference character III, which valve may be of the same construction as is shown in the said copending McCollum application, as clearly shown in Fig. 5. The other end of cylinder 8 is open to the atmosphere. The conduit ll connects valve I 0 with the intake manifold ii of the motor car. The valve I0 is primarily operated by pedal 6 of the clutch lever 2.

or button I3, mounted on plunger I6 pivoted at its other end at I1 to the floating lever I5, the fulcrum of which is provided by the pivot pin. 2I which moves in unison with the movement Said pin 2I might be rigidly mounted on said clutch lever, but to avoid the tipping action of said pivot pin, which would then result, I prefer to mount it upon a parallel motion mechanism consisting of the link 20, one

end of which is pivoted to said clutch lever at 5a,

while the other end is pivoted to the collar 28 which slides freely on the piston rod 6. By this arrangement also the amplitude of motion transmitted to the said pivot pin 2I from the clutch lever can be reduced to any desired extent, compared with that of clutch pedal 3, by locating the pivot 5a as near shaft I as may be necessary to create the reduction ratio required. The free end'of floating lever I5 is pivoted at I4 to the rod I3a, the other end of which is pivoted to an arm extending laterally from the stem I3 of the valve I0. As a result of the mechanismso far described the valve I0 can be moved to' initially open or close connection from cylinder 8 to the intake manifold I2, or to the atmosphere through the port 3I, the opening of which latter can be adjusted by the screw plug 32. If, after any such initial movement of the valve has been thus manually produced the movement of button I8 stops, the movement of the clutch lever 2 thereby caused shifts the position of the levers'fulcrum pin at -2I, thereupon causing a reverse movement of the valve so that all valveports are lapped and the parts held in the position then assumed, all as described in said co-pending McCollum application, Isa is a compression spring normally forcing pedal or button I8 to the right" or up ward and so holding the valve stem I3 in a position which closes the connection from cylinder to manifold and leaves the connection from cylinder to the atmosphere open, so that the clutchactuating member 2 under the pull of spring 35 is then maintained in a positioncausing complete engagement of the clutch (not shown). It should be understood that inthe arrangement here shown the valve III is supposed to be held in fixed position (by some support not shown) and that 'the conduit 9 is made of light copper lated.

tubing which will bend sufficiently to accommodate the slight oscillations of the cylinder 8 upon its pivot 811 though, of course, said valve might be mounted on the cylinder and the conduit II flexed when both valve and cylinder were oscil- -Various forms of two-way valve other than that indicated at III might be 'used, provided always that'the valve so substituted shall also be so made as to clme communication with its air inlet port (such as indicated at 3|) before it'opens' the connection (such as shown at 'I I) to the intake manifold; and .on reverse movement close the manifold connection II before it opens air port 3|, or other'communication with the external atmosphere. Preferably also, a valve should be used having a piston which, as shown, can slightly lap the ports connecting with conduit 9, which extends-to the cylinder so that a slight amount of travel of the valve is required after the suction has been cut off before air is admitted to said conduit. ,This ensures the impossibility f the establishment at any time of a straight-through connection from air inlet to intake manifold ever being established. The rea- 2;012,636 f I any position/in which it may with certainty in have been stopped at the time the valve was moved into such mid position of port lapping, is that this construction prevents the inflow to the intake manifold of an undetermined, uncontrollable andunwanted amount of air which would,

in many cases, make the fuel mixture temporarily so lean that the motor would stall. Such objectionable upsetting of the proper proportions of fuel mixture would occur every time the operator began to accelerate the motor from idling I speed, which of course always has to be done whenever the car is started. The valve III is operated bythe first movementof the accelerator and before the throttle ismoved thereby. If, therefore, said valve opened the air inlet before the manifold connection was closed, that would cause a rush of air into the manifold while the carburetor was still idling, the throttle not then having been moved from idling position because of the lost motion connection I31, I38. This temporary excess of air, even if small in amount, would be so considerable relatively to the amount of air passing through the nearly closed throttle valve, and relatively to the amount of fuel being supplied by the idling jet, that an incombustible mixture would instantly be formed, and the motor thereby stalled.

- While this stalling difficulty would occur in any type of clutch controlling unit operated by the sub-atmospheric pressure derived from the intake manifold, it would occur in an especially aggravated form in the species of such unit here shown because, for the purposes of this invention, the suction controlling valve must be and is continually shifted from slightly open to barely closed positions during manipulation of the clutch. If, therefore, during that short range of reciprocation of the valve, air was thus being almost continually passed through the valve'to the manicreated in cylinder 8, the clutch would stutter into and out of engagement, and the motor di ,as often as it was accelerated above idling speed.

Obviously, therefore, any apparatus involving a valve having this objectionable double opening feature (such as some of those shown in the prior art) would be inoperative for the purposes of my present invention.

So far as above described, the apparatus is essentially that illustrated in Fig. 5 of the McCollum application, 35 being the usual spring which normally holds the clutch actuating member 2 in a position which will produce complete clutch engagement, and which after the clutch has been opened, returns such clutch lever to that position whenever the vacuum in cylinder 8 is released.

I21 represents the carburetor for the motor of the car, having a butterfly throttle valve (not shown) mounted on the throttle shaft I28, which also carries the throttle lever I30. Normally the spring I3I holds said throttle valve in a position determined by the adjustment of the stop arm- I29 carried by shaft I 28 when the screw carried by said stop arm is in contact with the stop rib I29a. The throttle is operated by means of" the accelerator rod I39 which has the telescoping, lost-motion mechanism I38 and I31, the free end of the rod I31 being pivoted to the throttle arm, and the free end of the .rod I39 being pivoted at "a to the plunger rod- IIia which projects through thefootboard l and carries the button I8a, said element beingnormal ly held by. spring I9b in a position of rest withthe throttle closed to idling position, a gap-then existing inthe lost-motion connection I31-I38. .A second floating lever I 5a is also fulcrumed on the pin 2| at one end and at the other end is pivoted to the rods I64: and I39 by means of the pin IIa.

Obviously the mechanism last described enables the driver by pressure of his right foot on button or pedal I8a to operate the carburetor throttle in the manner common to practically all motor cars as now constructed, and if there were no furtherconnection between the two. floating levers I5 and I5a, the pneumatically operated power developing element comprising the cylinder 8, piston I and their heretofore described connections, would be left solely under control of the other pedal or button or equivalent manually operable device I8.

If, however, an operative connection is established between the two floating levers I5 and I5a, the power developing apparatus can be alternately operated either by button I8, o'r' I8a. In order to permit this to be done, however, without interfering with the throttle operation, which must take place during'a portion of the travel of the button or pedal I8a separate from the portion of the travel thereof which operates the valve In, the connection between said floating levers must 'be a lost-motion connection, i. e. one which permits them to move together during the initial downward motionof button I8a (that is, to the left, looking at Fig. 1) during which the valve I8 is operated, but thereafter allows the floating lever I5a to move freely during the continued Y throttle operating portion of the travel of said button I8a.

The particular method of accomplishing this.

here illustrated will be best understood by reference to Fig. 2, where 5I represents a lockout ,.or cutout pin slidingly mounted in the cup 52 which is screwed into the lever I5, as shown in detail in Fig. 3. -,When said pin is forced down so that its head 58 rests on the bottom of said cup, its lower end projects down into slot 58 formed in the rear side of the lever I5a. As a result, when the spring I9b forces the accelerator operating button I8a back to the extreme right (looking at Fig. 1, i. e. into its position of rest, the pin 5| en ages the bottom of said slot during the latter portion of thetravel of lever I5a resulting from suchmovements of button I8a (which occurs while the gap in, the lost motion mechanism I3T-I38 is being opened) and the lever I5 (being thus locked to I5a) is thereby caused to oscillate on the common fulcrum 2| of both levers through an angle suflicient to open the valve I8 in such manner as to afford communication from cylinder 8 to intake manifold I2, thereby pulling the clutch into disengaged position. Conversely, when the operator presses down on button I8a he oscillates lever I5a in a counterclockwise direction on its fulcrum pin II, and, though there is no positive 4 connection between the two levers, a similar'moin cylinder 8 consequently dissipated, and clutch spring 35 causes the clutch to engage, just before the lost-motion between I31 and I38 .has been taken up. Thereafter further movement of button I8a to the left merely causes floating lever I 5a back and forth to controlthe degree of opening of the throttle valve in the carburetor without moving lever I5 and valve I0, at all. Obviously, also, when the operator has released the pressure of his foot on button I8a up to a point which brings the lost-motion gap I3'I-I38 just to the point of opening, lever I5a will have then become initially engaged with pin 5|, and thereafter further movement of button I 8a back to its position of rest will cause lever I5 to also oscillate on common fulcrum 2| in a clockwise direction, opening the connection from cylinder 8 to manifold I2 and pulling the clutch out of engagement, as previously described. If we assume that floating lever I5 has been removed, the last above described apparatus and operation will be essentially the same as those illustrated and described with'reference to Fig. 6 of the McCollum co-pending application above referred to. It is only when the two lovers separately shown in separate arrangements (Figs.

ratio of the lever arms of I5a. In any case, what ever the leverage ratios, the spring I So must be so graduated as to its expansive force 'with reference to that of spring I9b that it will exert a lesser effective pull on the combined lever system with reference to the common fulcrum 2| than does the spring I9b, so that when pressure is removed from both I8 and I8a and a position of rest. assumed, the spring I9b will have been expanded and the spring I9a compressed, as

indicated in full lines in Fig. 1, and it is only when the accelerator operating button I8a has been pressed downward farenough to actuate the suction controlling valve I8 that button I8 is allowed to rise to its highest position, which is the broken line position shown in.Fig. 1.

With the apparatus so described it is obvious that the power developing element may be operated solely by movement of the accelerator actuating button I8a, so that its operation is automatically timed with reference to the throttle operation and thus produces free wheeling when the driver takes his foot 011' button I8a, but automatically throws the clutch into engagement before the throttle is opened beyond its idling position, and that during all this time the button I8 will remain stationary in its broken line position,

'or idly fall and rise during the clutch manipulation'periods of travel of the button I8a. If, however, when the throttle is in some position of power producing opening, due to a sufficient dc.- pression of button I8a, the driver desires to release the clutch so as to race hisengine, as for the purpose of clearing-out his carburetor or for any other reason, he can do this by pressing down on the button I8, which will then open up a lostmotion gap between pin 5| and lever I 5a, and independently. operate valve I 8, the connecting mechanism from button I8 to said valve being positive and continuous at all times, and thus predominating over, or overriding, any, control or release of said valve exerted by button I8a.

If, however, the throttle were thus open to any considerable extent the degree of vacuum in manifold I2 may have dropped to a point such that it will not be able to overcome the resistance of spring 35, and pull the clutch open. Accordingly I prefer to insert the vacuum tank V, of relatively considerable capacity, in the conduit II between the valve I .and the manifold I2, and to place a check valve W in the conduit between said tank and manifold, which valve opens toward the manifold, its opening motion being limited by the stop W". When this tank is used the check valve will close whenever the 'degree of vacuum in manifold I2 drops below that in tank V', and a sufficient degree of vacuum will thereafter be carried over in said tank to operate the pneumatic power device (cylinder 8 and piston 'I) one or more times so as to produce suflicient clutch disengagement, and the above suggested racing of themotor can bethereby produced, or the clutch power-operated under manual control at any time and for any purpose, independently the position of the ac celerator. v

Also it may happen that some drivers will not care to have the automatic clutchcontrol above described in operation at any time, or the automatic devices may get out-of proper adjustment, so that it is desirable to disconnect them entirely and to leave the pneumatically-operated powerdeveloping element solely under control of button I8 for manual operation. To render this possible I prefer to have the .pin 5| slidingly mounted in the cup 52 mounted on lever I5 and normally held down in position such as to engage lever I5a by the pressure of spring 51 which is compressed between the pin head 58 andthe cup cap 56, and then connect to said pin a Bowden wire .53 which is encased 'in the flexible sheath 59, both of which are extended up to the instrument board 54, where the wire terminates in a knob 55. The lower end of the sheath 59 is screwed into the cup cap 56, as shown in Fig. 3. When this attachment is installed the operator can at any time pull up on the button 55, thereby lifting pin 5| into the position shown in broken lines in Fig. 3, so that its lower end will no longer engage the walls of the slot 50 in lever I5a, and thereafter the floating lever I5a is operatively disconnected from the clutch controlling apparatus which is'then left solely under control of the button I8. After such disengagement has occurred the button I8 will rise to the broken line position under actionof the spring I91; and remain in that position shutting off the suction connection to cylinder I8 and leaving the clutch normally engaged'until .the operator causes its partial or entire disengagement by pressing down on said button I8. The friction between the wire I5 and sheath 5!! is suflicient to hold lockout pin 5| in this elevated position against the expansive force of the then compressed spring 51. When, however, downward pressure is applied by the hand to button 55 the wireis forced down and pin 5| is no longer held up thereby.

Preferably the connection between the lower end of the wire 53 and the pin 5| is a collapsible one, such as afforded by the short length of chain 60, as indicated; in Fig. 3. When this or other collapsible or flexible connection is used, and the button I8a isin fully retracted position when the lookout button 55 is pushed down, the pin 5| will merely be spring pressed down upon the uppetsurface of floating lever |5a which will then be in the broken line position indicated in Fig. 3, this relation of the parts being also indicated by the dotted circle in Fig. 2, but the next time the button I811. is depressed to operate the throttle the slot 50 in I5a will move under pin 5| and spring 51 will force it down into the full line position shown in Fig. 3, thereby reestablishing the above described operating connection be-' tween the'two floating levers and consequently between the two sets of control apparatus above described.

If, for any reason, the idle reciprocation of the button I8, when the apparatus is under control of the button I 8a (in the manner hereinbefore referred to) is objectionable, it can be eliminated by the modified connection shown in Fig. 4, where the button'plunger I6 hasa pin-and-slot connection HD to lever I5 in place of the simple pivot pin connection I1, and a third spring I9c is connected to floating lever I5 and anchored on the footboard. The spring I90 then performs the functions hereinabove ascribed to spring I90, in the arrangement shown in Fig. 1, and said spring I9a performs no other function then to hold button. I8 normally in retracted position until said spring is compressed by the pressure of the operator's foot. In this arrangement, when the two levers I5 and I5a are operatively connected together by pin 5|, the pin of the lost motion connection I la will reciprocate idly in the slot in plunger I6 during the clutch operating periods of travel of the accelerator operating button I 811, and whenever said button IBa has been pushed inward far enough to begin operating the throttle the pin of Na will have been brought to rest against the right hand end of said slot, and will be thereafter held there by spring I9c, the lever I5 then remaining at rest. I-lere again, however, if the operator desires to open the clutch at any time while the throttle has been opened beyond its idling position, any downward. pressure upon button I8 will move lever I5 and cause it to at once assume control of the valve In and thereby produce any variety of clutch operation the operator may desire. In this modification spring I90 should exert a less effective pull on the systemof levers than does spring I9b, and spring I9a need be only strong enough to hold button I8 in broken line position, (i. e. raised) whenever said button is free from foot pressure.

Various other changes could be made in the details of the dual and separable control systern above explained in principle, withouttaking such further modified apparatus outside the scope of my invention. Also, other forms of lost motion mechanisms, or of one-way-operative connections might be substituted for those shown, and similar changes in details made without eliminating from the resulting apparatus the substance of the invention as defined with varying degrees of breadth in the appended claims. f

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In a pneumatically operated clutch-actuating device for motor .cars comprising a pneumatically operated power developing element connected to'a movable clutch-actuating member, a valve for controlling said element, a. carburetor throttle and motion transmitting mechanism by which the movements of said controlling valve and said throttle are automatically timed with reference one to the other so that the clutch is closed before the throttle is opened and only opened after the throttle has been closed to idling position, the combination, with said above described apparatus, of a manually operable device for moving said controlling valve; whereby said power developing element may be controlled either automaticaliy or manually and in which said manually operable device predominates over said automatic means in the control of said power developing element, so that the operation of the latter at any given moment may be determined by manipulation of said device, whatever the position of the throttle and of its timing means may be.

2. In a pneumatically operated clutch-actuating device for motor cars comprising a pneumatically operated power developing element connected to a movable clutch-actuating member, a valve for controlling said element, a carburetor throttle and motion transmitting mechanism by which the movements of said controlling valve and said throttle are automatically timed with reference one to the other so that the clutch is closed before the throttle is opened and-only opened after the throttle has been closed to idling position, the combination, with said above described apparatus, of a manually operable device for moving said controlling valve; whereby said power developing element may be controlled either automatically or manually and combined with manually operable mechanism for disconnecting said timing means from said controlling valve; whereby said power developing elements may then become subject to manual control alone.

3. In a vacuum-power clutch-operating apparatus for motor cars of the class described comprising a vacuum cylinder containing a piston connected to a clutch-actuating member, a valve controlling the degreeof vacuum in said cylinder, a manually operable device, and a floating lever to which said clutch-actuating member, valve and manually operable device, are separately connected, the combination, with said above-described apparatus, of a second floating lever also operatively connected to said clutch-actuating member and valve and to the pedal which actuates the accelerator for the motor of the car; whereby said valve may be opened and closed either by movement of said accelerator operating pedal or of said manually operable device.

4. A combination such as defined in claim 3 in which the connection from said second floating lever to said valve is manually disengageable.

5. A combination such as defined in claim 3 in which said floating levers have a common pivot which moves with said clutch-actuating member, the last mentioned lever being connected to the first mentioned oneby a lost motion mechanism which leaves it free to move, independently of the first lever, with the accelerator when the latter is moving the motor throttle, and in which said vacuum controlling valve is directly connected to said first lever only.

6. A combination such as defined in claim 3 in which said floating levers have their adjacent end sections overlapping with a common pivot pin moving with said clutch-actuating member and passing through said overlapping lever sections, the first mentioned lever having a permanent connection to said controlling valve and carrying a pin adapted to engage one side of said second lever when the latter is swung on the common pivot toward said pin.

7. An apparatus such as defined in claim 3 in whichsaid floating levers have their adjacent end sections overlapping with a common pivot pin moving with said clutch-actuating member and passing through said overlapping lever sections, the first mentioned lever having a permanent connection to said controlling valve and carrying a pin adapted to engage one side of said second lever when the latter is swung on the common pivot toward said pin, and in which said pin is slidingly mounted on the lever by which it is carried so as to be removable from the path of the other lever, combined with manually operable means for moving said pin into or out of said other levers path.

8. An apparatus such as defined in claim 3 in which said cylinder and vacuum controlling valve are connected by a conduit also connected to the intake manifold'of the motor, combined with a vacuum tank of relatively considerable capacity connected in said conduit line between valve and manifold, and a check valve in said conduit opening toward said manifold and located between it and said tank; whereby a sufficient degree of vacuum for disengaging the clutch will remain available for some time after the vacuum in the manifold may, have been dissipated by a sumciently wide opening of the throttle valve, or otherwise.

9. In an apparatus of the class described the combination of two levers having a common pivot near their adjacent ends, a pedal connected to the free end of each lever, a connection between said adjacent lever ends adapted to permit both pedals to be depressed at once, but to prevent both pedals being retracted at once, a power controlling element connected to one of said levers only, and separate springs normally tending to retract said pedals, the spring on the pedal connected to the controlling element being the weaker of the two in effective pull around the common pivot as a center.

10. In an apparatus of the class described the combination of two levers having a 'common' pivot near their adjacent ends, a pedal connected to the free end of each lever, a connection between said adjacent lever endsadapted to permit bot-h pedals to be depressed at once, but to prevent both pedals being retracted at once, a power controlling element connected to one of said levers only, and separate springs normally tending to retract said pedals, together with a third spring normally tending to swing said last mentioned lever in a direction toward its connected pedal, said spring being weaker than the spring on the other pedal in efiective pull around the common pivot as a center, and said lever having a lostmotion connection to its. pedal.

' 11. An apparatus such as defined in claim 3 in which said floating levers have their adjacent end sections overlapping with a common pivot pin moving with said clutch-actuating-member and passing through said overlapping lever sections, the first mentioned lever having a permanent connection to said controlling valve and carrying a pin adapted to engage one side of said second lever when the latter is swung on the common pivot toward said pin, and in which said pin is slidingly mounted on the lever by which it is carried so as to be removable from the path of the other lever, combined with manually operable meansfor moving said pin into or out of said otheiilevers path comprising a. Bowden wire extending from the. instrument board of the car to said pin, and a spring normally forcing said pin toward said other lever.

12. In an apparatus of the class described the combination of two control levers for a clutchactuating mechanism which have their ends superposed, a common fulcrum on which said superposed lever sections are pivoted, a pin slidingly mounted on one of said levers, a spring celerator pedal,

normally tending to force said pin toward said other lever, amanually movable element for pulling said pin out of such engagement, and a collapsible connection from said element to said pin; whereby, if said element is placed in a position which would permit the pin to move into engagement with the other lever, but such adapted to control said power operated mechanism, the combination, with said above described apparatus, of a second pedal and connections therefrom also adapted to control said power operated mechanism, and manualh operable means for disabling the first, mentioned connection to said accelerator pedal and leaving said .power operated mechanism-under the sole control of said second pedal.

14. In a motor car controlling apparatus comprising a carburetor, throttle valve and accelerator pedal for actuating the same, power transmission clutch and power operated mechanism for causing engagement and disengagement of said clutch manually controllable independently of said accelerator pedal, the combination,

with said above described apparatus, of a device connecting said mechanism with said accelerator pedal so that the former is automatically operated'by the movement of the latter, and means for disabling said connection.

15. In a motor car controlling apparatus comprising a carburetor, throttle valve, accelerator pedal controlling said throttle valve, and spring means for retracting said accelerator to a position which closes said throttle valve to idling 10 position, together with a power transmission clutch and a separate pedal for actuating said clutch, the combination, with said above described apparatus, of a device operatively connecting said pedals together when said acceleral5 tor approaches the limit of its movement of retraction and adapted to then move said clutch pedal into clutch disengaging position.

16. An apparatus such as defined in claim 15 combined with means for disabling said device. 20

17. The combination of an internal-combustion engine, a vehicle driven thereby, a device jointly controlling the power of the engine and its driving connection with the vehicle, and positive mechanical means for disabling the con- 25 trol, by said device, of the driving connection without disabling its control of the engine power, said means being independent of operative connection to any other apparatus capable of exercising control over the vehicle's movements.

AUGUSTUS PARKER-SMITH. 

